KR20080060832A - Method of manufacturing a needle of a probe card - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for manufacturing a needle of a probe card is provided to simplify a needle manufacturing process by using a metal mold layer instead of a sacrifice substrate without forming an additional seed layer. A recess has a shape corresponding to the shape of the tip of a needle to be formed on a soft mold layer(120). A mask pattern(140) has an opening exposing the recess on the soft mold layer. A conductive layer pattern(150) is formed in the opening and the recess. The soft mold layer and the mask pattern are removed from the conductive layer pattern. A support plate for supporting the soft mole layer is attached to the bottom surface of the soft mold layer.

Description

Probe card manufacturing method {METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A NEEDLE OF A PROBE CARD}

1 to 6 are cross-sectional views sequentially illustrating a method of manufacturing a probe of a probe card according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

-Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawing-

110: support plate 120: flexible mold film

130: template 140: mask pattern

150: conductive film pattern

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a probe of a probe card, and more particularly, to a method of manufacturing a probe of a probe card in contact with a subject such as a semiconductor device or a flat panel display device.

Recently, the manufacturing technology of semiconductor devices has been developed to improve the degree of integration, reliability, response speed, etc. in order to meet various needs of consumers. In general, a semiconductor device forms a predetermined film on a silicon wafer used as a semiconductor substrate, and fabricates a film in a pattern having electrical properties, and electrically forms each die on which the pattern is formed. Probe test process to inspect, cutting process to cut each die, bonding process to weld gold or aluminum wire to semiconductor substrate divided into each die by cutting process, bonding process The finished semi-finished substrate is manufactured through a packaging process of sealing with ceramic or plastic.

The probe test process is a process of inspecting electrical characteristics of each die formed on a semiconductor substrate, and is also commonly referred to as an electrical die sorting (EDS) process.

The probe test process is a process of determining whether each die formed on the semiconductor substrate is in an electrically good state or in a bad state. This is to reduce the effort and cost consumed in the packaging process by removing the die having a bad state before performing the packaging process through the probe test process, and to early discover and reclaim the die having the bad state. For sake.

Typical probe cards include a main printed circuit board, a connector, a flexible printed circuit board, a support member and a probe. With the probe in contact with the subject, a test current is supplied to the subject through the main printed circuit board, the connector, the flexible printed circuit board, and the probe to examine the electrical characteristics of the subject.

A method of manufacturing a probe of a conventional probe card is disclosed in Korean Patent No. 252457.

According to the probe manufacturing method of the probe card disclosed in the above publication, a recess corresponding to the tip portion of the probe is formed on a sacrificial substrate such as a silicon substrate. Then, a photoresist pattern having an opening exposing the recess is formed on the sacrificial substrate. A seed film is formed along the opening and the inner surface of the recess. A plating process is performed on the seed film to form a conductive film pattern in the openings and the recesses. Subsequently, when the photoresist pattern and the sacrificial substrate are removed, a probe having a shape corresponding to the shape of the recess and the opening is completed.

By the way, in the above-described conventional method for manufacturing a probe, the recess is formed by etching the silicon substrate using an etchant. Here, since silicon has a directionality, when the silicon substrate is etched with an etchant, the recess is mainly formed in a pyramid shape. For this reason, since the tip shape of a probe is mainly limited to pyramidal shape, changing the tip shape of a probe is not easy.

In addition, in the conventional probe manufacturing method, since the plating process cannot be directly performed on the silicon substrate, a process of forming the seed film for forming the conductive film pattern is required. In particular, due to the high electrical resistance of silicon, the seed film must be formed through a sputtering process. For this reason, a probe manufacturing process becomes very complicated and there exists a problem that a probe manufacturing cost is also high.

The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a probe of a probe card that can form a tip of various shapes through a simple process.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a probe of a probe card, the method including: forming a recess having a shape corresponding to a shape of a tip portion of a probe to be formed on a flexible mold layer; Forming a mask pattern having an opening exposing the recess on the flexible mold layer; Forming a conductive film pattern in the opening and the recess; And removing the flexible mold layer and the mask pattern from the conductive layer pattern.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a support plate for supporting the flexible mold layer may be attached to the bottom surface of the flexible mold layer when the recess is formed.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the forming of the recess may include pressing the flexible mold layer with a mold having a shape corresponding to that of the tip portion. Here, the flexible mold layer may include a flexible metal such as flexible aluminum or flexible copper.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the forming of the conductive layer pattern may include performing a plating process on the flexible mold layer. In addition, a portion of the conductive film pattern protruding from the surface of the mask pattern may be removed.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a probe of a probe card, the method including: forming a flexible metal film on a support plate; Forming a recess having a shape corresponding to a tip portion of the probe to be formed in the flexible metal film; Forming a photoresist pattern having openings exposing the recesses on the flexible metal film; Forming a conductive film by performing a plating process on the flexible metal film exposed through the opening; Removing the conductive layer until the surface of the photoresist pattern is exposed to form a conductive layer pattern filling the opening and the recess; And removing the support plate, the flexible metal film, and the mask pattern from the conductive film pattern.

According to the present invention described above, since the recess is formed in the mold film made of a soft metal using a mold, the shape of the recess can be easily changed in accordance with the mold shape change. As a result, the shape of the tip portion of the probe can be easily changed in accordance with the needs of the user. In addition, since a metal mold film is used instead of the sacrificial substrate, it is not necessary to form a separate seed film for forming a conductive film pattern. As a result, the probe manufacturing process of the probe card can be simplified and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

With respect to the embodiments of the present invention disclosed in the text, specific structural to functional descriptions are merely illustrated for the purpose of describing the embodiments of the present invention, the embodiments of the present invention may be embodied in various forms and It should not be construed as limited to the embodiments described.

As the inventive concept allows for various changes and numerous embodiments, particular embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the text. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to the specific disclosed form, it should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Terms such as first and second may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the first component may be referred to as the second component, and similarly, the second component may also be referred to as the first component.

When a component is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another component, it may be directly connected to or connected to that other component, but it may be understood that other components may be present in between. Should be. On the other hand, when a component is said to be "directly connected" or "directly connected" to another component, it should be understood that there is no other component in between. Other expressions describing the relationship between components, such as "between" and "immediately between," or "neighboring to," and "directly neighboring to" should be interpreted as well.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this application, the terms "comprise" or "having" are intended to indicate that there is a feature, number, step, action, component, part, or combination thereof that is described, and that one or more other features or numbers are present. It should be understood that it does not exclude in advance the possibility of the presence or addition of steps, actions, components, parts or combinations thereof.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. Terms such as those defined in the commonly used dictionaries should be construed as having meanings consistent with the meanings in the context of the related art and shall not be construed in ideal or excessively formal meanings unless expressly defined in this application. Do not.

1 to 6 are cross-sectional views sequentially illustrating a method of manufacturing a probe of a probe card according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the flexible mold layer 120 is formed on the support plate 110. Here, the support plate 110 corresponds to an ancillary element that serves to support the flexible mold layer 120 when the flexible mold layer 120 is patterned. Accordingly, the processes described below may be performed only on the flexible mold layer 120 without using the support plate 110. In the present embodiment, examples of the support plate 110 include a silicon substrate, a ceramic substrate, a glass substrate, a stainless steel substrate, and the like having excellent flatness.

In addition, the flexible mold layer 120 may include a flexible metal such as flexible aluminum, flexible copper, or the like. Therefore, the flexible mold film 120 can be easily patterned with a tool having a hardness higher than that of the flexible mold film 120.

 Referring to FIG. 2, the recess 122 is formed in the flexible mold layer 120 by pressing the surface of the flexible mold layer 120 with the mold 130 having a shape corresponding to the tip portion of the probe to be manufactured. In the present embodiment, the recess 122 has a pyramid shape. However, it is a matter of course that the shape of the recess 122 may be changed according to the shape of the mold 130.

Here, since the mold 130 has a stronger hardness than the flexible mold film 120, when the flexible mold film 120 is pressed by the mold 130 with a predetermined force or more, the mold 122 may move the recess 122. Can be easily formed. That is, in this embodiment, as a method for forming the recess 122, a simple press process using the mold 130 is used instead of a complicated etching process. Therefore, while the process of forming the recess 122 becomes very simple, the cost to be input can be reduced. In particular, when the tip design of the probe is changed, it is only necessary to change the mold 130 to a new mold according to the changed tip shape, so that the tip design can be quickly coped with. As a result, the tip portions of various shapes can be formed more easily.

Here, examples of the material that can be used for the mold 130 include tungsten, molybdenum, iron, nickel, cobalt, alloys thereof, and the like, which are not ductile and have strong strength and wear.

In addition, the physical properties required for the mold material used to manufacture the mold 130 include excellent strength, toughness, wear resistance, abrasiveness, corrosion resistance, heat resistance, heat treatment, plating properties, and the like, low thermal expansion rate. Abrasion resistance is the most important property among the requirements for mold materials because it has a direct relationship with mold life and accuracy. Wear resistance changes with the content of alloying elements but is generally proportional to hardness. Therefore, it is preferable to perform mold surface treatment or heat treatment to increase the wear resistance to the core, the cavity, and the sliding part among the mold parts. What is important in the injection molding mold is that the surface finish of the mold is transferred to the surface of the product, so that the mold material must have excellent polishing property in order to produce a good appearance surface of the molded article. Since many injection molding materials generate various harmful gases, the mold material is required to have excellent corrosion resistance. Since the prevention of thermal deformation due to the temperature difference of each part of the mold, the reduction of mold dimensional change due to molding conditions, the prevention of heat checking, and the like are required, it is required to manufacture the mold from a material having high heat resistance and low thermal expansion rate. Since the mold fabrication involves heat treatment processes such as quenching, tempering, annealing, and normalization, it is necessary to use a material having excellent heat treatment. Since the injection molding die is often plated, it is preferable to use a material having excellent plating properties.

The mold 130 can be manufactured using such a mold. Alternatively, the mold 130 may also be manufactured through plating and bonding processes, laser micromachining processes, and casting processes.

In addition, the mold 130 may be formed through a MEMS process. Specifically, a photoresist pattern having openings is formed on the sacrificial substrate. The substrate is etched using the photoresist pattern as an etch mask to form a recess in the substrate. Here, the shape of the recess corresponds to the shape of the tip portion. A seed film is formed on the inner surface of the recess. A plating process is performed on the seed film to fill the recess with the conductive film. If the photoresist pattern and the sacrificial substrate are removed, a conductive film remains. The conductive film is a mold 130 to be manufactured.

On the other hand, during the process of pressing the flexible mold film 120 with the mold 130 from above, the flexible mold film 120 is firmly supported by the support plate 110. Therefore, the deformation of the flexible mold film 120 can be suppressed, and the recess 122 of a desired shape can be formed correctly.

Referring to FIG. 3, a mask pattern 140 having an opening 142 exposing the recess 122 is formed on the flexible mold layer 120. In this embodiment, an example of the mask pattern 140 may be a photoresist pattern. Specifically, a photoresist film (not shown) is formed on the flexible mold film 120. An exposure and development process is performed on the photoresist film to form a photoresist pattern 140 having an opening 142 exposing the recess 122.

Referring to FIG. 4, the recess 122 and the opening 142 are filled with the conductive film pattern 150. In detail, a plating process is performed on the flexible mold layer 120 exposed through the recess 122 and the opening 142 to cover the flexible mold layer 120 and the mask pattern 140 (not shown). ). Examples of the conductive film include nickel, cobalt, tungsten, alloys thereof, and the like. Here, since the flexible mold layer 120 is a metal material, the plating process may be directly performed on the exposed flexible mold layer 120 without the need for forming a seed layer separately through a sputtering process. Accordingly, the sputtering process for forming the seed film may be omitted, thereby simplifying the process of forming the conductive film pattern 150.

Then, the conductive film is removed until the surface of the mask pattern 140 is exposed to form the conductive film pattern 150 filling the recess 122 and the opening 142. That is, the conductive film is planarized. In the present embodiment, the conductive film may be planarized through a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process. Alternatively, the conductive film may be planarized through an etch-back process.

Referring to FIG. 5, the mask pattern 140 is removed to expose side surfaces of the conductive film pattern 150. In this embodiment, the mask pattern 140 may be removed through an ashing process and / or a stripping process.

Referring to FIG. 6, when the support plate 110 and the flexible mold layer 120 are removed from the conductive film pattern 150, the probe of the probe card including the tip part and the body part is completed. That is, the conductive film pattern 150 corresponds to the probe of the probe card.

As described above, according to the present invention, a recess is formed in a mold film made of a soft metal material using a mold. Therefore, when the tip shape of the probe is changed, the recess shape can be easily changed by using a new template corresponding to the changed tip shape. As a result, the shape of the tip portion of the probe can be easily changed according to the user's request.

In addition, since a metal mold film is used instead of the sacrificial substrate, it is not necessary to form a separate seed film for forming a conductive film pattern. As a result, the probe manufacturing process of the probe card can be simplified and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

As described above, although described with reference to preferred embodiments of the present invention, those skilled in the art will be variously modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention described in the claims below. And can be changed.

Claims (14)

Forming a recess having a shape corresponding to the tip shape of the probe to be formed in the flexible mold film; Forming a mask pattern having an opening exposing the recess on the flexible mold layer; Forming a conductive film pattern in the opening and the recess; And And removing the flexible mold film and the mask pattern from the conductive film pattern. The method of claim 1, further comprising attaching a support plate for supporting the flexible mold layer when the recess is formed on the bottom surface of the flexible mold layer. The method of claim 2, wherein the support plate comprises silicon, ceramic, glass, or stainless steel. The method of claim 1, wherein the forming of the recess comprises pressing the flexible mold layer with a mold having a shape corresponding to the tip shape. The method of claim 4, wherein the mold comprises tungsten, molybdenum, iron, nickel, cobalt, or an alloy thereof. The method of claim 1, wherein the flexible mold layer comprises a flexible metal. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the flexible mold film comprises flexible aluminum or flexible copper. The method of claim 1, wherein the mask pattern comprises a photoresist pattern. The method of claim 1, wherein the forming of the conductive film pattern comprises performing a plating process on the flexible mold layer to form the conductive film pattern. 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising removing a portion of the conductive film pattern protruding from the surface of the mask pattern. The method of claim 10, wherein the conductive film pattern portion is removed through a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process. The method of claim 1, wherein the conductive film pattern comprises nickel, cobalt, tungsten, or an alloy thereof. Forming a flexible metal film on the support plate; Forming a recess having a shape corresponding to a tip portion of the probe to be formed in the flexible metal film; Forming a photoresist pattern having openings exposing the recesses on the flexible metal film; Performing a plating process on the flexible metal film exposed through the opening to form a conductive film; Removing the conductive layer until the surface of the photoresist pattern is exposed to form a conductive layer pattern filling the opening and the recess; And And removing the support plate, the flexible metal film, and the mask pattern from the conductive film pattern. The method of claim 13, wherein the forming of the recess comprises pressing the flexible metal film into a mold having a shape corresponding to the tip shape.

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